NEW YORK, NEW YORK/HAYWARD, CALIFORNIA

A few days after that, my parents came back from Europe. Imagine their surprise when their son-in-law from California ran up to the taxi cab to help them with the luggage!      
                       Ignoring the turmoil in her mind, and according with the habit of hospitality, my mother immediately set a table with a four course meal. Taka wasn't used to that custom, he focused on gobbling down the salads and the salami, all the while wondering, where was my mother's famous home-made food that I always told him about. Following the soup and at the sight of the main entree being put on the table, he started to sweat. After the dessert, all he could do was to lie down belly up and groan quietly.
                                             
     He went back to California in a week or so, and I stayed. To tell the truth, I still wasn't sure that I wanted to come back to him. The baby in my tummy, though, and my parents convinced me to do it. Taka, in the meanwhile, told me that he found a good apartment for us. I was so psyched about it, but my imagination made it seem better then it was. It was nice enough, and after living in the old New York digs, I learned to appreciate the freshness and newness of our little flat. In Washington Heights, the sounds of the street life and the neighbors' parties and arguments are a part of one's immediate environment.                 When my husband told me to expose our unborn baby to the classical music, I replied that she was already listening to the Latin tunes - 24/7! 
      The flat in California had a calm air to it (until we'd start arguing). I lived there, expecting my baby in the quiet contentment (until we'd start arguing!). But there really was some contentment and a degree of naive assurance of the prosperous future, because Taka also found a Programming job. It paid the whole $ 42,000. We felt like the Rockefellers!





Copyright protected